Chris Fantetti By August 1945, the Allied Manhattan Project had developed and tested atomic bombs, and the U.S. Army Air Forces 509th Composite Group was equipped with Silverplate Boeing B-29 Superfortress that could deliver them from Tinian in the Mariana Islands. With no response from the Japanese, the bombs were dropped with the approval of U.S. President Harry S. Truman. A Little Boy-type atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, followed by a Fat Man bomb on the city of Nagasaki on August 9. Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000–80,000 in Nagasaki; roughly half of the deaths in each city occurred on the first day. During the following months, large numbers died from the effect of burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness. In both cities, most of the dead were civilians, although Hiroshima had a sizeable garrison. On August 15, just a few days after the bombing of Nagasaki and the Soviet Unions declaration of war, Japan announced its surrender to the Allies. On September 2, it signed the instrument of surrender, officially bringing an end to World War II. The bombings role in Japans surrender and their ethical justification are still debated.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 17:37:26 +0000
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